Non-Stop Number Ones

with Mark and his guests Bananarama, Mike Batt, Don Black, Simon Climie, Christopher Cross, The Human League, Julio Iglesias, Lulu, Artie Shaw, Paul Simon, Jule Styne and Andy Williams (plus bonus appearance by Ted Cruz)

The Mark Steyn Club was born six years ago in May 2017, which means we are now commencing our seventh year. The King's selfish decision to hold his Coronation on our birthday and Ofcom's even more selfish decision to re-convict me immediately after the big birthday have somewhat rained on my parade.

So, in lieu of our usual lavish observances, I hope you'll enjoy a replay of a show from half-a-decade back in honour of our very first birthday. To mark the occasion, we rounded up a few other people who are also one - Number One, that is, on the Hit Parade across the decades. In this compilation from the Steyn archives, I talk to singers and songwriters and musicians who've had Number One records - sometimes in America, sometimes in Britain, sometimes in Japan, Switzerland, Canada, Norway, and sometimes all around the planet.

Between them, my guests span over ninety years of pop success, from Jule Styne's first hit for Ukulele Ike in the 1920s to Mike Batt's hits for Katie Melua in the last decade. But we're going to focus on the half-a-century's worth of Number Ones they've accumulated between them. Aside from the performers mentioned above, we'll also hear top bestsellers from Nat "King" Cole, Aretha Franklin, George Michael, Art Garfunkel, and more. Some of the above guests are no longer with us, some I haven't seen for many years, some are fast friends, and a few are even members of The Mark Steyn Club. But all the above bring back happy memories, whether it's Bananarama warbling The Sound of Music, Jule Styne putting down his own Oscar-winning Number One hit, or Julio Iglesias recalling his days as an English pub singer making a tenner a week.

There's also a wee bit of Sinatra. If that is insufficient Frank on what is the twenty-fifth anniversary of his death, well, we have all the Blue Eyes you could possibly want in our Sinatra Century, and in our audio series The Song Is You.

So we're pleased to celebrate The Mark Steyn Club's birthday with an all-hit dance party of Non-Stop Number Ones. If you want actual dancing and cork-popping that will have to wait until this summer's third annual Mark Steyn Cruise, on which we hope to see you.

To enjoy an hour-and-a-quarter's worth of Number One records on this Mark Steyn Club birthday special, simply click above.

~Thank you all for six wonderful years.. We do enjoy your comments on the show. Steyn Club members are welcome to respond below.

Don't forget Steyn's Song of the Week airs thrice weekly on Serenade Radio in the UK, one or other of which broadcasts is certain to be convenient for whichever part of the world you're in:

5.30pm Sunday London (12.30pm New York)

5.30am Monday London (4.30pm Sydney)

9pm Thursday London (1pm Vancouver)

Whichever you prefer, you can listen from anywhere on the planet right here.